Battery construction.



w. G'AnplNER. BATTERY CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION FILED DEC261 1914.

Patented May16, 1916. 2 SHEETS-SHEET I d *wlll'd'u Gar-incr f 751/ @aw/6Mm W. GAHDINEH. BATTERY CONSIRUCUON. afucAr-lon man vec z', 19.14..

'Patented May16,1916.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

UNITED sTATEs "PATENT OFFICE. g

WILLIAM GARDINER., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BATTERY-CONSTRUCTION.

struction which will be simple, durable and reliable, and effective andefficient in operation. l

)ther objects of my invention Will appear hereinafter.

My invention consists Ain the features of novelty exemplified in theconstruction, operation and arrangement of parts hereinaftery described,shown in the accompanying4 drawings, and more particularly set forth 1nv the appended claims. y,

. Inthe drawings-Figure l isa top plan view of anE electric batteryembodying my` invention. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section on theline Q-Q'of Fig. 1 kof the upper portion of said battery. Fig. 8 isatransverse vertical section on the` line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 isatransverse detail sec*l tion substantially on the line 4.-4 of Fig. 2.Fig. 'is a perspective of the terminal lugs of the plates attached tothe common yconnector strip. y n

Inl the drawings, I have illustrated my iny ven-tion as embodied iny astorage battery,

preferably of the portable type used in automobiles, but. it will beobvious to one skilled in the art, after having obtained anunderstandingr of my invention yfrom the disclosures herein made, thatmy vinvention may be embodied in other types of batteries,

or. in fact various other receptacles wherein ventilation is requiredwithout thedanger of the contents of 'the receptacle or container beingaccidentally .let out of the receptacle.

The structure shown inthe drawings ein-v bodies three electricstoragec'ells A. which in this case are preferably identical ivith theconstruction, vand Which are preferably Specification of Lettera Patent.applicati@ med December 26, 1914. 4ser'iaiivatrama.

be of any suitable type.l

Patented May 16, 191.6.

grouped together in a casing or box B to form a battery of kunit cells.This casing is preferably rectangular "in shape and has side and endwalls-1 and a bottom vvall 2, and is made o-f Wood or other suitablematerial for containing` .the cells and for: the protection thereof.Thiscasing also has a couple of handles 3 von its end walls forconvenience inhandling the battery. The unit or individual cells A,so'far as their'pla'te construction and electrical action` is concerned,may

In the drawings each cell has a plurality of plates 4, between which areth'e'separa` tors 5, and these platesand separators arel groupedtogether Within a container ork re-y ceptacle C which is preferablyrectangular in shapel and which is substantially one- -third of the sizeof the interior of the casing B, so that three of these'cells may besingu' larly positioned Within the said casing, the numberV of the cellsand size of the casing, of course, may be readily varied to suit therequirements; Each cell container C has side and end walls `6 and 7respectively, these cells being preferably made'of such material as isusual in storage batteries and such as u Awill resist the action of theliquid. The side and endl Walls of these cells extend almost,

but not,v quite, to the upper edge of the casing Walls 1. A

lThe plates of thev cells have terminal or connector lugs 8 upstandingfrom" theirk upper edges, these lugs being positioned at one side or theother of the vertical section of the plates, and all preferably arrangedso that the terminal lugs 8 ofthe positive plates f will be transverselyin line at one side of the; center of the cell, and those lugs of thenega- 'tive plates transversely'alined at the opposite side of saidcenter. These terminal lugs have "short upstanding cylindrical projections 9 at their extreme upper ends and are arranged so. as to formshoulders 10 at the t,

upper ends of said lugs 8.V K these shoulders arecover plates or topWalls 11 for the cells. These cover plates are of a material similar tovthat of 'the Walls of the cell 'containers and fit within the upperendsv of the cell containers so that they may be placed inpositionaftcrthe plates and separatorshave beenplaced in theirrespective positions in the cell containers. These cover plates 1l haveholes or perforations corre- Resting upon l ing the liquid contents ofthe cells, and for.

' any of the liquid lfrom the cells. This seal.

spect to the bottom walls T of tliecell containers is lsuch that the.cover plates will`v occupy a position somewhat.beloiitlie-'upper edgesof the cell containerwalls. 4 In other "words, the cover plates 11 areset lwithin, or

depressed belowr the tops of the cell containers. rIfhe projections 9extend above the cover plates 11 andare suitably screwed or otherwisefastened in correspondingholes in common connector strips or members l2,which members ,12 electrically connect the several plates together inpositive and negative groups. These connector strips are put in positionafter the cover plates 11 have been placed in position, sothat theyclamp the cover plates 11 between themselves and the shoulders 1.0 ofthe plate terminal lugs.l thus Vforming a substantialconstruction'withno loose parts liable to jaror get out of orden Eachconnector member 12 has an upstandiiig terminal lug 13 which extendsconsiderably above the top of the cells of the. casing and provideconvenient ymeans for electrical connection with the battery. rIhe coverplates 11 lare provided with openings 14 preferably centrallydisposed,and

these openings are carried vabove the top of the cells by means ofupstanding tubes or hollow cylinders 15, the lower ends of which arescrewed or otherwise fastened to the cover plates 11,`so that thesetubes and passages formed thereby communicate directly with the interiorof the cells. These passages or openings arecomparatively large, andarey provided for `the purpose of removgainingaccessjto the interiorthereof for such purposes as flushing the cells or other side. In order,however, to close these openings when the battery is in use, and tothereby prevent the liquid from splashing out of the cells and out'ofthe top of the battery, caps 16 are screwed or otherwise removablyfastened lin the ,upper ends of the tubes 15. The shallow spaces betweenthe cover plates 11 andthefuppery edges of the cell walls and casing maybe completely filledjin with sealing'r compound 17 of any suitablecharacter, so that the entire upper ends of the cells andy casing arecompletely and effec-tively sealed against the escape of ingcompound ispreferably filled' in flush with the upper edges of the casing walls, sothatthe joints or spaces between the casing walls and thel cell walls,and also the joints between the cover plates 11 and `the Y cell walls,are effectively closed land sealed.

In storage batteries of this character, it is essential that ventilationbe provided therefor-that it is to say, the linterior of the cellsshould communicate. with the outside air. soas to allow the escape ofgases when the battery is charged. But it will be obvious that while anydirect passage or port which connects the `interior of thecell with the(,iiitside atmosphere will provide ventilationi for the cell. therewould be danger ofv the liquid contents of the cell escaping throughthese vdirect ports and slopping over on to the` tops of the cells orbatteries and since the liquid contents of battery of this type aieusually of a very corrosive nature, the evil etl'ects on surroundingparts and on the exterior4 of the battery itself arising from the escapeof the liquid from the cells isobvious. For these reasons, and in orderto avoid these objections, I provide means which provide perfectventilation for the cellsand at the saine time prevents the escape ofthe. liquid when the batteries are shaken or jarred during service.

The central upstanding tube lpreferably carries an inverted cup or dish18, which when the tube 15 is inposition on the cover 11 rises toa pointsubstantially flush with the top edges of the casing, and also with thesurface of the sealing compound 17. The tube 15 preferably passescentrally through this cupshaped member 18, and is annular space isprovided within the cupsliaped member 1S siii-rounding the tube 15, andwithin this space I position two portforming members I) and E havingcommunicating angularly disposed ports or pas sages. The member D ispreferably screwed into the wall of the tube 15 within the cupsliapedmember 18, and its port 20 communicates with the interior of the tube15, and thence through the opening 14 to the interior of the'cell. Theother member E is positioned so that it extends upwardly through thebottoni wall of the cup-shaped member 18 and projects above the cup andthe upper surface of the battery, and it has a port 21 whichcommunicates directly with the atmosphere or outside air. I connect theports or passages 2O and 21 in a manner which provides an indirect andcompara.- tively long passage. This may be done in fastened thereto atthe point 19. Thus an any suitable manner, but I prefer 4to formKL y lorpassages 25 and 26 which communicate with the passages 20 and 21,respectively, so that between the port 20 which communircates with the.interior of thev cell and the port 21 which communicates with the out-`side air there is a long and continuous,

though indirect, passage through which the gases may escape. The tube 22may be of any suitable length, but I prefer to provide a comparativelylong tube and dispose it in spiral arrangement around the tube 15 withinthe cup-shaped member 18, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. In this mannersubstantially two turns mayv be readily obtained.

y After the tube 22 has beeny placed in,` position, the cup 18 may beand preferably is filled yWith a sealing compound 27 in which the tubeand the members D and Eare embedded, thus forming with the cup-shapedmember and tube 15 a substantially integral solid structure. This solidstructure forms what may be termed for convenience a filling andVentilating unit which is attached to the cover plate y11 by simplyscrewing the inner end of the tube 15 into the opening 14 of the coverplate. as previously described. This unit is preferably placed inposition before the sealing compound 17 is filled in, so that the jointsaround the unit and also the unit itself will be sealed Within the upperend of the cell and will be substantially consolidated therewith. ItWill thus be seen that by this construction it is difficult, and in factpractically impossible. for any liquid to splash into the indirectVentilating passage through the port 20. circulate through the tube 22,and finally es 7 cape through the port 21. Thisdifliculty is furtherenhanced by the fact that the port 20 not only enters the tubelaterally, but is alsok disposed at some distance above the cover plate11. so that the liquid will first have to splash into the tube 15 beforeit could enter the port 20, and even assuming that solne of the liquidenters the port 20. it would readily drain back into the cell. It willalso be noted that even though'by any chance the liquid should enter theport 20 and pass into the rubber tube 22, through the passage 25, itwould have to do so through a tortuous passage and could do no harmexcept perhaps to corrode the rubber or flexible tube 22, but this wouldhave no effect upon the operation of the structure. because even thoughthe tube 22 should be completely corroded or eaten away, there wouldstill exist a perfectly formed passage in the sealing compound 27. Itwill be noted also that none of the terminal lugs or any of the partsabove the cover plates 11 are exposed to the action of the liquid of thecells for the very reason that the cover plates 11 serve as protectorsfor all the parts thereabove. Furthermore, a solid, compact.lsubstantially integral structure 'is provided which has no loose partslikely to be shaken or jarred out of order or become displaced in anyother manner. In fact, the cover plates 11. the ventilating units andthe sealing compound` both within and Without the cup-shaped member, areall consolidated tomembers :E which extend above thecupshaped member maybe provided with a small hard rubber cap. 34` which may be screwed on tothe ends of the members E to protect them. These caps have holes 35which ycommunicate with the outside air. as y shown more clearly in Fig.2.

The terminal lugs 13, as before mentioned. rise above the top of thebattery, and each cell thus has a positive and negative terminal. Bymeans of these lugs. the cells may be electrically connected together,or

theymay be used separately, as'desired. In the structure shown in thedrawings, and particularly in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the threecells are electrically connected in series. The permanent connectionsbetween the terminal lugs 13 .are formed by lat plates or strips 30'which are suitablybolted to the flattened "upper ends 13a of saidterminal lugs 13. The leads or conductors 3l which extend toYthe'fba'ttery are preferably flexible for convenience in connection.These conductors or leads may be of any suitable length and are providedwith terminal heads 32 and 33, as shown clearly in Fig. 1.

` It is my intention, instead of furnishing the lleads 31 alreadyconnected to the battery,to furnish'manufacturers or users with theproper length of leads 31 having terminals 33 and 32 at its ends. Theterminals 32 of the .leads can then be permanently fastened to theautomobiles. nection and connection of the battery with these leads canthen readily be accomplished by disconnecting and connecting theterminals 33 firmer to the battery terminals 13. Thus whenever thebattery is to be removed The discone or disconnected, there will be nonecessity of having flexible connections attached to it which are likelyto become short-circuited or inconvenienced in other Ways.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The combination of a receptaclehaving a. port in one of the Walls communicating:-

with the interior thereof, a port communicating with the exteriorthereof, and a ytube surrounding said mterior p ort and embeddedentirely Within the Wall and forming a passage connecting said ports.

2. The combination of a tubular member securlng said tubular memberto a.Wall of the cell and in communie-ation with the interior thereof. andmeans for closing the end of the tubular member.

-municating at its other end with the interior ofvsaid tubular member.

l. A ventilato-r unit for storage prising a tubular fmember, acup-shapedmember havinga port, means Within said cup-shaped member forming apassage connected at one end with said port and communicating atV itsother end with the interior of said tubular member, and a remov- .l ableCaptor closing one end of said tubular member. f

5. .The combination of a'storag'e cell having an opening in one of itswalls, a tubulaimember secured to said wall and forming a direct passagebetween the interior of the cell and the outside air, a hollowcup-shaped member surrounding said tubular member, means Aforming ports`communicating with the outside air and with the interior of saidtubular member. a flexible tube surrounding said tubular member withinthe cup-shapedmember and forming' a passage between said ports, and asealing material embedding said flexible tube within said cup-shapedmember to form a solid structure.

(3. rlhe combination of a storage cell hav ingr the 'cover depressedwithin said cell to form a shallow space above the. cover, storageplates within said cell having terminall lugs extending ythrough thesaid cover, terminal members common to and secured to a cells com-,group of said lugs above said Cover, and a sealing material filled insaid shallow space above the cover and embeddingsaid terminal lugs andcommon terminal members.

7. The,combination ot' a .storage cell having` the cover depressed-within said cell to form a shallow spare above the cover, storageplates withinsaid cell having terminal lugs extending through the saidcover, a connector bar common to and attached toa group of saidterminallugs, a terminal post for saidy connector bar,I ay sealing materialfilled in said shallowspace above the cover` and embedding said terminallugs and connector bar, and a casing inclosing said cell.

8. The combination of `a storage cell hav-v ing a cover member setwithin the upper end thereof to form a shallow space above said cover,said cover having,T an opening, a tubular member .fastened in saidopening and forming a direct' passage communicating with the outsideair, an inverted cup-shaped member surrounding said tubular member, atube within said cup-shaped member surrounding said `tubular member,communicating at one end to the interior of said tubular member andterminating at its other end in a port outside of cup-shaped member, a.sealing substance within said cup' shaped member embedding the tube, anda sealing `substance within the shallow space above said coversurrounding said cupshaped member. 1

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 17th day of December, 1914.

p WILLIAM GARDNER.`

lVitnesses:

E. H. CLEGG, EDGAR FRAN cis BEAU'BIEN.

